1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antibacterial deodorant that develops an antibacterial action as much as or more than high-level disinfectants (e.g., formalin, glutaraldehyde, and peracetic acid formulation) while posing the risk to an ecosystem as low as low-level disinfectants (e.g., quaternary ammonium salts, amphoteric surfactant, chlorhexidine) and that further has a deodorizing action.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various antibacterial agents have heretofore been proposed. Antibacterial agents having a strong antibacterial action, however, are limited in the purpose of use, the object for use, the range of use, and so on, and users are required to have a professional knowledge because antibacterial agents having a stronger antibacterial action generally tend to naturally show a higher toxicity to men and beasts. Therefore, not all persons have been able to use with ease antibacterial agents having a strong antibacterial action.
On the other hand, many deodorants also have been proposed, for example, deodorants utilizing various methods, e.g., chemically decomposing odor components (or malodorous substances) with chemicals, microorganisms, photocatalysts, or the like, physically adsorbing odor components with activated carbon, zeolite, silica gel, or the like, or masking odor components with perfumes.
By the way, in order to apply an antibacterial treatment to bedclothes or clothes at hospitals, nursing homes, and so on, much attention should be paid to safety, and deodorization is required as well as antibacterial action. However, even in such situations, there are no antibacterial deodorants that anyone can use with ease and that have both an antibacterial action and a deodorizing action at high levels.
Under such circumstances, the inventors of the present invention invented an antibacterial deodorant containing a cationic surfactant, a zwitterionic surfactant, a nonionic surfactant, and a hot water extract of beans, which is a liquid (ca. pH 4.5) that can be obtained by immersing beans in water, crushing them into a muddy state, heating the resultant at about 100° C. for 10 to 20 minutes and subsequently at about 80° C. for 20 to 60 minutes, filtering the resulting solution, adding water and a flocculating agent to the filtrate, heating the resulting mixture at about 100° C. for 20 to 60 minutes, and separating the resulting solids (see Japanese Patent No. 3529059 (Claims), below).
This antibacterial deodorant containing a bean hot water extract gained public favor because it has both a strong antibacterial action and a strong deodorizing action and is very user-friendly due to its very high safety to men and beasts. As a result, the inventors attained their desired end.
However, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus anthracis and small bacteria which form spores, and viruses have high resistance to drugs. In addition, sterilization by drugs cannot avoid the possibility of the appearance of resistant bacteria through screening. Moreover, as to deodorization, there are various substances which cause a bad smell (i.e., odorous components).
Therefore, there was a demand for the development of an antibacterial deodorant that has a stronger antibacterial action while maintaining a high safety with a low toxicity to men and beasts and that can be utilized for a wider variety of odorous components.